A federal judge has thrown out a former student's $1.05 million
lawsuit against the University stemming from his 1997 expulsion
after being convicted of cheating on an economics exam. In his
suit, Jonathan Cobb, who is black, claimed that the Honor
System discriminated against minority students; that his rights
to due process were violated by a seven-month delay in assigning
him an honor adviser; and that he was defamed in a letter written
by Vice President for Student Affairs William H. Harmon. In refusing
to allow the case to go to trial, federal district court judge
Norman K. Moon, who in July had dismissed five other claims in
Cobb's original suit, ruled that a racial-bias argument based
upon statistics alone does not prove discrimination in a specific
instance. The delay in appointing an adviser did not violate the
honor bylaws at the time of Cobb's accusation and trial, Moon
found, and Harmon's letter -- though it contained an inaccurate
statement -- was sent only to immediately involved parties and
thus did not constitute the "publication" required to
prove defamation. Moon also dismissed the claims of Cobb's parents,
Darryl and Annette Cobb, because they lacked the standing to join
in the suit on behalf of their son, who was of legal age.